1. The Committee considered the combined fourth and fifth periodic reports of
Burkina Faso (CEDAW/C/BFA/4-5) at its 695th and 696th
meetings, held on 14 July
2005.

Introduction by the State party

2. Introducing the report, the representative said that the Government of
Burkina Faso, in conjunction with non-governmental organizations,
associations
and development partners, was working to consolidate the progress made in the
area of gender equality in its domestic
legislation.

3. On 19 May 2005, the National Assembly had adopted an act authorizing the
ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention
on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

4. The representative stated that policies for the advancement of women dealt
with many issues, such as the fight against HIV/AIDS,
rural development,
communications, employment and work, health, education, the national policy for
the advancement of women and the
National Population Policy. In addition,
Burkina Faso’s policy letter on sustainable human development addressed
the situation
of women.

5. Efforts to publicize the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights
of the Child, the
establishment of legal clinics and the revision of the content of school
textbooks had led to a sea change in traditional
social standards. In
particular, existing laws had been strengthened in order to prohibit levirate,
dowry, forced and early marriage
and female genital mutilation.

6. Equality between men and women in the area of employment was enshrined in
texts governing both the private and public sectors.

7. Although prostitution was illegal, it had taken on worrying proportions,
owing mainly to impoverishment. The representative described
the strategies
implemented by the Government, in conjunction with the regions, to counter that
phenomenon. She also detailed the
policies introduced to combat trafficking in
children, which was a growing problem.

8. With regard to education, the representative observed that disparities
continued to exist between girls and boys in the school
system. Fewer girls than
boys were enrolled in school owing to the persistence of religious and customary
practices, the overburdening
of girls with housework and the lack of financial
resources.

9. However, the adoption in 1999 of the ten-year basic education development
plan had, particularly since 2002, led to a significant
upswing in the net
literacy rate owing to an increase in the number of local schools, financial
assistance for parents and campaigns
to promote girls’ enrolment. Literacy
for women and girls who had dropped out of school or who had never been to
school was
a priority and efforts in that area had been successful owing to the
spread of non-formal education centres.

10. Access to primary health care was a constant concern for the Government.
Efforts were being made to ensure that reliable family
planning was readily
available throughout the country. The Government had also developed a plan to
safeguard reproductive health
products.

11. Measures had been introduced to promote women’s involvement in the
agricultural sector, and the presence of women in organizations
gave them the
opportunity to take part in decision-making in rural areas.

12. Since 1990, marriage and family matters had been governed by the
Individual and Family Code. Under the Code, monogamy was the
preferred form of
marriage, but polygamy was permitted under strict conditions designed to protect
women’s rights. That type
of union still existed and, in practice, was
more common. Since the adoption of the Code, awareness-raising, information and
training
campaigns had been launched to promote monogamy and the issue had been
incorporated into educational activities and vocational training.
There was no
discrimination towards either spouse in respect of the rights and obligations
arising from marriage and divorce. Spouses
enjoyed the same inheritance rights,
the right to legal guardianship of minor children, the right to property and the
right to remarry.
However, retrograde practices still existed, to the particular
detriment of widows since, in accordance with those practices, children
belonged
exclusively to their father.

13. In conclusion, the representative said that the Committee’s
recommendations would be taken into consideration by the Government
of Burkina
Faso with a view to the effective implementation of the Convention.

Concluding comments of the Committee

Introduction

14. The Committee expresses its appreciation to the State party for its
combined fourth and fifth periodic report. The Committee commends
the State
party for the written replies to the list of issues and questions raised by the
pre-session working group and for the oral
presentation which added further
information about the situation of women.

15. The Committee commends the State party for its high-level delegation,
headed by the Minister for the Advancement of Women and
which included the
Minister of Health and representatives of other ministries with responsibility
for implementation of the Convention.
The Committee expresses its appreciation
for the frank and constructive dialogue held between the delegation and the
members of the
Committee and the further clarifications provided in response to
the questions orally posed by the Committee.

Positive aspects

16. The Committee congratulates the State party for its recent legislative
reforms and policy measures to empower women and to eliminate
discrimination
against them, including the amendment to the Labour Code (Act No. 033-2004/AN)
to prohibit sexual harassment, the
policy letter on sustainable human
development which provides for a more active role for women in development and
the policy letter
on decentralized agricultural development which includes as
one of its specific objectives the promotion of the role of women in
the
agricultural sector.

17. The Committee welcomes with satisfaction the fact that the State party
signed in 2001, and is in the process of ratifying, the
Optional Protocol to the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

18. The Committee welcomes the establishment of the National Committee to
Combat Discrimination responsible for monitoring implementation
of the
Convention and of gender points of contact in all ministries.

19. The Committee commends the State party for its campaign against female
genital mutilation, which has resulted in a significant
decrease in this
practice.

Principal areas of concern and recommendations

20. The Committee notes the State party’s obligation for the
systematic and continuing implementation of all the provisions of the
Convention. At the same time, it is the Committee’s view that the concerns
and recommendations identified in the present concluding
comments require the
State party’s priority attention between now and the submission of the
next periodic report. Consequently,
the Committee calls upon the State party to
focus on these areas in its implementation activities and to report on actions
taken
and results achieved in its next periodic report. It calls upon the State
party to submit the present concluding comments to all
relevant ministries and
to Parliament so as to ensure their full implementation.

21. The Committee is concerned that the State party has not taken adequate
steps to implement the recommendations in regard to some
concerns raised in the
Committee’s previous concluding comments adopted in 2000 (A/55/38). In
particular, the Committee finds
that its recommendations in paragraphs 268 (to
give priority to education of girls), 278 (to enforce women’s rights to
property
and provide women with access to credit) and 280 (to enforce labour
laws to eliminate discrimination in employment) have been insufficiently
addressed.

22. The Committee reiterates these concerns and recommendations and urges
the State party to proceed without delay with their implementation.

23. The Committee is concerned about the lack of specific legislation to
eliminate violence against women, including domestic violence.
While the
Committee notes the State party’s contention that victims of violence
receive medical and legal services, it is concerned
that the State party did not
provide any details about such services, and their accessibility to women. The
Committee further expresses
concern about the paucity of information and
statistics provided on the incidence of various forms of violence against
women.

24. In accordance with its general recommendation 19, the Committee urges
the State party to give high priority to putting in place comprehensive
measures
to address all forms of violence against women and girls, recognizing that such
violence is a form of discrimination against
women and constitutes a violation
of their human rights under the Convention. The Committee calls upon the State
party to enact,
as soon as possible, legislation on violence against women,
including domestic violence, so as to ensure that violence against women
constitutes a criminal offence, that women and girls who are victims of violence
have access to immediate means of redress and protection
and that perpetrators
are prosecuted and punished. The Committee recommends that the State party also
implement educational and awareness-raising
measures aimed at law enforcement
officials, the judiciary, health providers, social workers, community leaders
and the general public,
in order to ensure that they understand that all forms
of violence against women are unacceptable. It also recommends the establishment
of shelters and counselling services for victims of violence. The Committee
requests the State party to provide information in its
next report on the laws
and policies in place to deal with violence against women and the impact of such
measures. The Committee
also requests the State party to provide details of
services provided to victims of violence, including details about access to and
scope and effectiveness of the services.

25. While welcoming the Individual and Family Code which provides for
women’s equality with men in many respects in the areas
of marriage,
divorce and death and inheritance, the Committee is concerned about the
persistence of several discriminatory provisions
in the Code, particularly in
relation to the minimum age of marriage, which is 17 years for girls and 20
years for boys, and the
legality of polygamy under the Code.

26. The Committee urges the State party to accelerate the process of legal
reform to raise the minimum age of marriage of girls and to
prohibit polygamy in
order to ensure compliance with articles 2 and 16 of the Convention and the
Committee’s general recommendation
21 on equality in marriage and family
relations.

27. While welcoming legislation prohibiting female genital mutilation, forced
and early marriage, levirate and sororate, dowry and
practices that prevent
women from owning land and inheriting from their husbands, the Committee remains
concerned about the continuing
strong prevalence of patriarchal attitudes and
deep-rooted stereotypes and of customs and traditions that discriminate against
women,
particularly women in rural areas, and constitute violations of their
human rights. The Committee is concerned that these practices
persist in
contravention of the provisions of the Convention, as well as national
legislation. The Committee is also concerned that
women are not informed of
remedies under relevant legislation.

28. The Committee calls upon the State party to take all necessary
measures to ensure full compliance with the provisions of the Convention,
the
Individual and Family Code, the Penal Code and other laws in regard to harmful
traditional or customary practices that violate
women’s rights. The
Committee recommends that these efforts be undertaken in combination with
educational programmes designed
to raise awareness and challenge discriminatory
customs and traditions and stereotypic attitudes regarding the roles and
responsibilities
of women in the family and society, as required under articles
2 (f) and 5 (a) of the Convention. The Committee encourages the State
party to
undertake these efforts in collaboration with civil society and women’s
and human rights organizations, and target
women and men in all segments of
society, including public officials at all levels of government, and community
and traditional leaders,
as well as the general public. It also urges the State
party to improve women’s access to remedies, including through
awareness-raising
efforts and measures to enhance women’s legal
literacy.

29. While the Committee welcomes the adoption of a law to prevent and combat
trafficking in children for purposes of exploitation
of labour, it is unclear
that this legislation covers trafficking of children, especially girls, for
sexual exploitation. The Committee
is further concerned that similar measures
have not been taken with respect to trafficking in women.

30. The Committee urges the State party to intensify its efforts to combat
trafficking in girls and women for sexual exploitation. The
Committee recommends
that the State party implement a national strategy to combat trafficking in
girls and women, which should include
the prosecution and punishment of
offenders and measures aimed at improving the economic situation of girls and
women so as to eliminate
their vulnerability to traffickers, educational
initiatives and social support measures and rehabilitation and reintegration
measures
for girls and women who have been victims of trafficking.

31. The Committee regrets that the combined fourth and fifth periodic report
did not provide sufficient statistical data on the situation
of women in all
areas covered by the Convention. The Committee is concerned about the lack of
information on the impact of measures
taken and of results achieved in various
areas of the Convention.

32. The Committee calls upon the State party to put in place a
comprehensive system of data collection and assessment of trends in the
situation of women. It encourages the State party to monitor, through measurable
indicators, the impact of measures taken and progress
achieved towards
realization of women’s de facto equality. It invites the State party, as
necessary, to seek international
assistance for the development of such data
collection and analysis efforts. The Committee also requests the State party to
include
in its next report statistical data and analysis on the situation of
women, disaggregated by sex and by rural and urban areas, indicating
the impact
of measures and the results achieved in the practical realization of
women’s de facto equality.

33. The Committee is concerned about the situation of rural women,
particularly in view of their extreme poverty and lack of access
to adequate
nutrition and sanitation, health care, education and income-generating
opportunities. This situation leads to multiple
forms of discrimination against
rural women. The Committee is also concerned about the absence of statistical
information related
to the situation of rural women.

34. The Committee urges the State party to pay special attention to the
situation of rural women so as to enhance compliance with article
14 of the
Convention. In particular, the Committee calls upon the State party to ensure
that rural women have full access to education,
health services and credit
facilities, and can fully participate in decision-making processes. The
Committee also urges the State
party to implement provisions of the Agrarian and
Land Reform that give women equal access to arable land and housing and
provisions
of the Individual and Family Code so as to eliminate all forms of
discrimination against women with respect to ownership and inheritance
of land.
It also urges the State party to place emphasis on women’s human rights in
all development cooperation programmes
with international organizations and
bilateral donors so as to address the socio-economic causes of discrimination
against women
and sociocultural causes of poverty of women, especially those
impacting women in rural areas, through all available sources of support.
The
Committee urges the State party to put into operation the principle of gender
equality as a key factor in eradicating poverty
as outlined in the strategic and
regional frameworks for poverty reduction. The Committee invites the State party
to provide detailed
statistical information about the impact on women of the
implementation of the policy letters on sustainable human development,
decentralized
rural development and agricultural development and of the
strategic and regional frameworks for poverty reduction, in its next
report.

35. While noting the efforts made by the State party to improve reproductive
health care for women including through subsidizing contraceptives,
the
Committee remains concerned about the limited access to adequate health-care
services for women, including those related to family
planning. It is
particularly concerned about high rates of fertility, infant and maternal
mortality and death due to clandestine
abortions, inadequate family planning
services and low rates of contraceptive use. The Committee is further concerned
that the report
contained insufficient information on the impact of measures
taken to reduce infant and maternal mortality rates, and improve access
to
family planning services. The Committee is concerned about the limited
information provided on prevalence of HIV/AIDS and trends
in the spread of the
epidemic.

36. The Committee recommends that the State party take measures to improve
women’s access to health care and health-related services
and information,
in accordance with article 12 of the Convention and the Committee’s
general recommendation 24 on women and
health. It calls upon the State party to
improve the availability of sexual and reproductive health services, including
family planning,
also with the aim of preventing clandestine abortions. It
encourages the State party to enhance availability of contraceptive services.
It
further recommends that sex education be widely promoted and targeted at girls
and boys, with special attention to the prevention
of early pregnancies and
sexually transmitted diseases. The Committee requests the State party to provide
in its next report detailed
statistical and analytical information on measures
taken to improve women’s access to health-related services and
information,
including in regard to sexual and reproductive health and family
planning, and the impact of these measures, in accordance with the
Committee’s general recommendation 24 on women and health. The Committee
calls upon the State party to carefully monitor implementation
and results of
the national plans to combat HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections
(2001-2005) and any follow-up programmes
and strategies, to be reflected in its
next report.

37. While noting the increase in the number of women in the National Assembly
from 3 in 2000 to 13 in 2005, the Committee remains
concerned about the low
level of representation of women in public and political life and in
decision-making positions, including
in the foreign service. It notes with
concern the absence of temporary special measures to increase women’s
participation in
political and public life despite the Committee’s
recommendation in paragraph 273 of its previous concluding comments
(A/55/38).

38. The Committee urges the State party to implement temporary special
measures, including quotas, in accordance with article 4, paragraph
1, of the
Convention and the Committee’s general recommendation 25 and to establish
concrete goals and timetables so as to
increase the number of women in political
and public life and in decision-making positions. The Committee also draws the
State party’s
attention to general recommendation 23 on the participation
of women in public life and urges full implementation of the measures
recommended therein.

39. The Committee encourages the State party to accept, as soon as
possible, the amendment to article 20, paragraph 1, of the Convention,
concerning the meeting time of the Committee.

40. The Committee urges the State party to utilize fully in its
implementation of its obligations under the Convention, the Beijing Declaration
and Platform for Action, which reinforce the provisions of the Convention, and
requests the State party to include information thereon
in its next periodic
report.

41. The Committee also emphasizes that a full and effective implementation
of the Convention is indispensable for achieving the Millennium
Development
Goals. It calls for the integration of a gender perspective and the explicit
reflection of the provisions of the Convention
in all efforts aimed at the
achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and requests the State party to
include information thereon
in its next periodic report.

42. The Committee commends the State party for having ratified the seven
major international human rights instruments.1 The Committee
notes that the State party’s adherence to the seven major international
human rights instruments enhances the
enjoyment by women of their human rights
and fundamental freedoms in all aspects of life.

43. The Committee requests that the present concluding comments be widely
disseminated in Burkina Faso, in French and local languages,
in order to make
the people of Burkina Faso, including government officials, politicians,
parliamentarians and women’s and
human rights organizations, aware of the
steps that have been taken to ensure de jure and de facto equality for women and
the future
steps required in that regard. It also requests the State party to
continue to disseminate widely, in particular to women’s
and human rights
organizations, the Convention and the Optional Protocol thereto, the
Committee’s general recommendations and
the Beijing Declaration and
Platform for Action, as well as the outcome of the twenty-third special session
of the General Assembly
entitled “Women 2000: gender equality, development
and peace for the twenty-first century”.

44. The Committee requests the State party to respond to the concerns
expressed in the present concluding comments in its next periodic
report under
article 18 of the Convention, which is due in November 2008.

Notes

1 The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination
against Women, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the
Convention on the Rights of the Child and
the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and
Members of Their Families.